Awhile back I started designing Flint the Forge-Bot for a story project. I basically wanted to tell a simple story, and then design all the accompanying sets, characters, etc. So, I finally dug up some of the sketches that went into Flint. I got tired of scanning, so this is just part of it.


First up is the Bird Electronics Watt-meter, the inspiration. A friend of mine has one of these on his desk, and it’s all beat up and dirty. I saw it and immediately saw it’s potential as a robot. So, with that idea I started sketching some ideas. Originally I stayed pretty true to it’s shape, but eventually decided to make the watt-meter the robot’s head, and added a body. Looking back on it, I can see some Ashley Wood inspiration happening here as well.


Originally he was more squat, but I ran into problems where his arms were too long. Then I made changes to his eye so he could have eyelids for emoting.

The forge-torch was designed later, as it was added to the story. The basic idea of a “forge-bot” is they are factory robots meant for hard labor. Extremely durable and heat resistant. They come equipped with a “forge-torch” for welding, cutting, whatever.


These are sketches for the rotation constraints of the joints. How they work basically, as well as showing how the arms can lengthen. It also shows some ideas for how the internal pneumatic musculature works, with bundles of compressing tubes that pull like real muscles. Except stronger… and cooler.